WORTH WATCHING

Watch: Vimeo's Wacky Doc About Sundance 'Escape From Park City'

"The cheapest way to survive is to subsist entirely on appetizers. If you're luck enough to get access to free parties throughout the day…" We've been covering the Sundance Film Festival for 11 years, and I adore the festival, but it's not always the most inviting place especially if you don't have proper access. This year, Vimeo hired "self-described 'struggling' Staff Picked documentarian" John Wilson to make a video about his experience at the festival - without any access. Suffice it to say, he makes an amusing doc that mocks the festival and the absurdity of everything, yet also finds the good in it. "Wandering up and down Main Street, remarking on the blend of commercialism and exclusivity, he paints a pretty pallid picture of festival life and the forces that dominate it." It's worth watching for a good life and a totally different look at Sundance.

Original description from Vimeo: "Vimeo hires a struggling documentarian to document a festival he can't get into." This video was made and edited by John Wilson, who goes by the online nickname of "Johns Movies" - see more from him on Vimeo or his official website. Vimeo explains their idea behind this video saying: "we reached out to John Wilson — a self-described 'struggling' Staff Picked documentarian, who has never been able to get into Sundance — and asked him to join us there in the hopes of uncovering some of the festival's secrets." What does he discover in all the snow? "[He] starts to recognize that institutions like Sundance are providing a platform for the hope we desperately need to better understand and ultimately triumph over these challenges, by championing independent voices, putting money into arts, and fighting for free speech." For more on the doc, visit Vimeo Staff Picks. For more shorts, click here. Your thoughts?

I understand, and that's definitely the way this video plays. But this is just one side of the festival. I mean, his experience is very limited because they sent him without a badge or without any access to anything. The screenings itself are actually easy to get into, you can buy tickets or get them waiting in line, or even wait list and get in that way. The festival is very fun and enjoyable, even with snow. I don't ever go to Main Street during the festival, so of course showing you everything down there seems bad, and it is bad, but that's not the only part of the festival. There's plenty more around and the screenings always run smooth.